Earlier this month I went to Fred Aldous, an art/craft/stationery store in Manchester that has bee around for more than 100 years.

Visiting this store is a great step up from visiting the usual chain stationery shops that all tend to offer the same items. Instead of finding what you can find everywhere you’ll find items that are usually only available in online shops or from abroad.

Ground floor

On the ground floor you will find imported, novelty and quirky stationery. This includes Field Notes, the first time I’ve seen them in a brick and mortar shop.

Field Notes

Less of a rarity: Rhodia …but I have never seen so much choice in one shop.

I was also able to stock up on Leuchtturm loops and saw pencils ‘live’ that I had to mail order in the past, like the Perfetto pencils mentioned previously.

Basement

The basement did remind me of a Hobby Craft store (an arts and craft chain in the UK). Lots of pencils, inks, etc, but of the less exotic kind. It’s still exciting to see so much choice in one place.

Parking isn’t easy in the centre of Manchester, but one of the side streets just next to Fred Aldous didn’t have double yellow lines all the way through, so I was able to park free of charge in a convenient location.

5 thoughts on “A visit to Fred Aldous”

Wow! This is stationery heaven 🙂 Did you leave the store voluntarily or did they have to push you out at closing time? 😉 The green penil tin looks very nice – I especially like the typography. How is the quality of the pencils?

I think you must be based around the Lancashire area from some of your comments. If you get up to Kendal look in at Iridium. They have Field Notes, Rhodia and a great range of pens and pencils. In fact, fantastic for an independent shop. And, no, I’m not affiliated with them.